Cohort profile: the South African National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) National HIV Cohort is a dataset published in BMJ Open (2022). On theSindex it has a DataRank of 0.739, placing it in the top 27.2% of the data-sharing corpus. It has been cited 24 times, with 10 citing works in its 1-hop citation network. Its calibrated FAIR score is 23/100.
Ranks in the top 27% for downstream scientific impact
Linked data & code
DataRank reads this dataset's downstream impact straight off the citation graph — no black box, no proprietary weighting. How is this computed?
FAIR checklist signals are shown for context only and do not affect DataRank scoring.
Full FAIR picture · advisory
The headline score is computed from the scored criteria — the fact-shaped checks (a repository, an accession, a licence) that two independent models agree on. The advisory criteria below are real FAIR guidance but rest on judgment calls that models read differently, so they inform without moving the number.
The paper does not provide any persistent identifier (DOI, Handle, ARK, or repository accession) for the dataset. [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-F1-01D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a persistent identifier' (priorit · RDA-F1-02D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a globally unique identifier' · FsF-F1-02D — F-UJI/FAIRsFAIR: 'Data is assigned a persistent identifier'
“Requests for access to the data can be made to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) directly ( http://www.aarms.nhls.ac.za )”
The data holder is the National Health Laboratory Service, a non-repository host. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-F4-01M — FAIR Data Maturity Model: metadata is offered so it can be harvested and indexed ( · NIH DMS Policy Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — name the repository where data will be archived · NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Long-Term Sustainability', 'Reten
No identifier for the dataset appears anywhere in the reference list or body text. [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]
FORCE11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles (2014) — data should be cited as a first- · RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes · FsF-F3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes the identifier of the data it describes'
Advisory · not in the published score
“Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Access to primary data is subject to restrictions owing to privacy and ethics policies set by the South African Government. Requests for access to the data can be made to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) directly ( http://www.aarms.nhls.ac.za ) and require a full protocol submission.”
The data-availability statement points to a third party (NHLS) with a request process, not a repository record.
Colavizza, Hrynaszkiewicz, Staden, Whitaker & McGillivray (2020), 'The citation advantage of li · Springer Nature research data policy — Data Availability Statements: standard statement templat · RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes
“Table 4 Variables in the NHLS National HIV Cohort Variable Description Per cent completeness of variable (%)”
The paper includes an itemised inventory of the dataset's variables in a table (Table 4), which is a structured description.
RDA-F2-01M — 'Rich metadata is provided to allow discovery' (priority Essential) · FsF-F2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes descriptive core elements to support data findability' · FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'
“Requests for access to the data can be made to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) directly ( http://www.aarms.nhls.ac.za ) and require a full protocol submission.”
The access route carries a stated precondition (a full protocol submission), which is a specified, followable process.
RDA-A1.1-01D — 'Data is accessible through a free access protocol' · FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data' · NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Free and Easy Access'
Advisory · not in the published score
“Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available.”
The paper states the data are not publicly available but does not apply a standard access-level label; the access level must be inferred from the description. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]
FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data' · RDA-A1-01M — metadata contains information to enable the user to get access to the data · COAR Controlled Vocabularies — Access Rights v1.0 (open / embargoed / restricted / metadata-onl
“Requests for access to the data can be made to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) directly ( http://www.aarms.nhls.ac.za ) and require a full protocol submission.”
The paper names the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) as the institutional gatekeeper that requires a full protocol submission, which is a formal application process.
NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (NOT-OD-14-124) — controlled-access via a Data Access Committee · RDA-A1.2-01D — 'Data is accessible through an access protocol that supports authentication and · NIH DMS Policy Element 5 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations (conse
The paper does not state any timeline for availability or persistence of the data.
NIH DMS Plan Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines · NSTC Desirable Characteristics (2022), Organizational Infrastructure: 'Retention Policy' · RDA-A2-01M — 'Metadata is guaranteed to remain available after data is no longer available'
No file format is named for the released data.
FsF-R1.3-02D — F-UJI: 'Data is available in a file format recommended by the target research co · RDA-R1.3-02D — data is expressed in a machine-understandable community standard · RDA-I1-01D — data uses a knowledge representation expressed in a standardised format
Advisory · not in the published score
No data or metadata community standard is named in the paper.
RDA-R1.3-01M — 'Metadata complies with a community standard' (priority Essential) · RDA-R1.3-01D — 'Data complies with a community standard' · RDA-I2-01M — '(Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles'
The paper does not provide an identifier for any external resource that the data depend on or derive from.
RDA-I3-01M — '(meta)data include references to other (meta)data' · RDA-I3-03M — 'metadata includes qualified references to other metadata' · FsF-I3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes links between the data and its related entities'
No licence or terms document is named for the data; the article's CC BY-NC licence applies to the paper, not the data.
RDA-R1.1-01M — 'Metadata includes information about the licence under which the data can be reu · RDA-R1.1-02M — 'Metadata refers to a standard reuse licence' · RDA-R1.1-03M — 'Metadata refers to a machine-understandable reuse licence'
“From April 2004 to April 2018, 63 million CD4 count and VL tests were conducted at 5483 facilities.”
The snapshot is identified by a date range (the period of data collection), not a version token. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]
DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — the 'Version' property · RDA-R1.2-01M — provenance information (which version was used is provenance) · NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Provenance', 'Retention Policy'
The paper does not mention any code availability for the study's own code.
NIH DMS Policy Element 2 (NOT-OD-21-014) — 'Related Tools, Software and/or Code' · FAIR4RS Principles v1.0 (Chue Hong et al., 2022; RDA/FORCE11/ReSA) — FAIR Principles for Resear · FORCE11 Software Citation Principles (Smith, Katz & Niemeyer, 2016, PeerJ CS 2:e86)
“This work was supported by grants R01AI115979, R01AI152149, K01MH105320, K01DK116929-01 and R01HD084233 from the National Institutes of Health.”
The paper provides specific award/grant numbers from the National Institutes of Health.
DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — 'FundingReference' property (funderName, funderIdentifier, award · Crossref Funder Registry — canonical funder identifiers for funding metadata · RDA-F2-01M — rich metadata provided to allow discovery (funding is part of the descriptive reco
Advisory · not in the published score
“Specimens for testing are collected from patients at their care facility and sent to 1 of 16 laboratories for processing and testing.”
The paper describes data collection in generic terms without naming specific instruments, kits, or software versions. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-R1.2-01M — 'Metadata includes provenance information according to community- specific standa · FsF-R1.2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes provenance information about data creation or generati · W3C PROV-O (W3C Recommendation, 2013) — the entity/activity/agent model of provenance
“Table 4 Variables in the NHLS National HIV Cohort Variable Description Per cent completeness of variable (%)”
Variable definitions are provided in a table inside the article, not in a separate documentation object shipped with the data.
RDA-R1-01M — '(Meta)data are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attribu · FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data' · NIH DMS Policy Element 3 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Standards (documentation and metadata to accompany t
Calibrated FAIR score — a parallel quality metric, independent of the DataRank citation score. See the full evaluation →
Base Score Contribution
0.483
From this paper's citation signal
Citation Network Contribution
0.256
From 6 citing papers with measurable signal
Ranked by each citer's contribution to N(p) — log1p(Cq) divided by its reference count — out of 10 citers.
United States Agency for International Development
Grant: AID- 674-A-12-0020
National Institutes of Health
Grant: K01DK116929-01
National Institutes of Health
Grant: K01MH105320
National Institutes of Health
Grant: R01AI115979
National Institutes of Health
Grant: R01AI152149
National Institutes of Health
Grant: R01HD084233
NIDDK NIH HHS
Grant: K01 DK116929
National Institutes of Health
Grant: 5R01HD084233-06
Causal Pathways to population health impact of HIV antiretroviral treatment
National Institutes of Health
Grant: 3K01DK116929-05S1
Evidence of the burden of diabetes, gaps in the diabetes cascade-of-care and the impact of care and treatment on diabetes outcomes in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients in South Africa
National Institutes of Health
Grant: 5K01MH105320-03
Economic, health, and behavioral dimensions of HIV treatment scale-up
National Institutes of Health
Grant: 5R01AI115979-02
Analysis of National Lab Database to evaluate the HIV treatment rollout in South Africa
National Institutes of Health
Grant: 1R01AI152149-01
Evaluating UTT with a National HIV Cohort to Optimize South Africa's HIV Response (ENCORE)
FWCI
1.84
Citation Percentile
0.9%
Citation Trend
Fields of Study
MeSH Terms
Keywords
Sustainable Development Goals